THE SUMMIT Post-Mortem: Kevin Lee on the Brutal, Unexpected Elimination

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Wednesday, October 9 episode of THE SUMMIT.]

After THE SUMMIT contestants opted to keep their group intact in the series premiere—and not abandon a player when they had the chance—the ominous Mountain’s Keeper took matters into their own hands on the Wednesday, October 9 episode.

The remaining contestants were tasked with crossing a rickety bridge, one by one, but there was a twist awaiting at the end: Whoever was called over last would not make it across. Rather, the players would have to cut the rope, causing the bridge to “collapse.” 

The group was visibly distraught, but ultimately opted to “sacrifice” Bo. But given they were tasked with implementing the heartbreaking task, was that—in itself–just another test about how far the contestants would go for their share of the nearly-million dollar prize? 

“That’s interesting,” THE SUMMIT showrunner Kevin Lee tells Give Me My Remote. “In the first episode, they were given the opportunity to leave somebody behind…then they didn’t, and then they failed to reach camp on time. So they learned a lesson, and the Mountain’s Keeper wanted to bring that lesson to the forefront in episode 2.”

“It never entered their mind that they would have disobeyed the Mountain’s Keeper and so they were genuinely sad,” he continues. “I mean, I was actually surprised at the amount of emotions that came out. But they, at that point, they were gonna listen to the instructions of the Mountain’s Keeper and it was just [a matter of] ‘who’ it wasn’t whether they were gonna do it or not. I never heard any conversation like, ‘Let’s just not cut it all.’”

If they had rebelled, “this format is loose enough that it wouldn’t even have [needed] a backup plan,” Lee acknowledges. “It would have been, ‘All right, let’s just keep walking.’ They’re all carrying their own tents. They’re all carrying their own sleeping bags and stuff like that. And the way the show’s pretty unique [is that] we’re thinking about episode 6, and the obstacle [they’ll face] and we’re like, ‘I don’t know. There might be eight of them. There might be ten of them. There might be three of them. We don’t even know.’ And so it’s a very loose format.”

“One person can win, a lot of people can win,” he continues. “So everything has to be designed with that uncertainty. But I do think that that uncertainty really kind of delivers some interesting, unique dynamics in that sense. They need each other to get up to the top. But, obviously, if it’s just one person that gets to the top, that’s more advantageous financially. But that uncertainty [about whether a person can do it solo] creates this dynamic: Are they helping each other? Are they competing against each other? All that stuff is kind of different, unique, and I think it worked. But from a producing point of view, we never knew from day to day [what would happen].”

Between the contestants, the mountain, and Mother Nature, production was constantly in flux. ”From a filming point of view, everything had to be very kind of small scale, handheld,” Lee shares. “We couldn’t have a lot of lights. We couldn’t have a lot of things that you see set up, if you were to go to a big reality show set. So it’s shot very primitive, but I think it works and it looks beautiful.”

“Then, as far as just the logistics and the planning, they really are on the side of a mountain,” he continues. “And it really can get dangerous and unpredictable. So we had to be prepared in case somebody got injured, or had to stop and have to sleep in this spot for two days, or they go extra fast and then you make it to the next spot in one day and we don’t know.”

THE SUMMIT, Wednesdays, 9:30/8:30c, CBS

RELATED:

• THE SUMMIT: Kevin Lee Explains How the Show Cast Season 1
• THE SUMMIT Showrunner Kevin Lee Breaks Down the Premiere’s ‘Emotionally Devastating’ Moment
• THE SUMMIT’s Manu Bennett Previews CBS’ Wild New Competition Series: ‘This Mountain is the One with the Final Word’

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.